Month: May 2014

Expressions #09: Water Fun!

Our Expressions post this week  could just as easily be a caption post. It was the single day of sunshine that we had last weekend. A day for rediscovering the bubble box, and for changing the batteries in this water fan bottle, an over-priced souvenir of our trip to Disney last year. When I came to edit, not only was this the best photo technically, it also made me snort my tea, and so it had to be the one. There is nothing like a day warm enough for the kids to drag out their summer clothes and play with …

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School camps

By GG, aged 9. My favourite way to spend a sunny day outside is on school camp. It’s actually GG here. I haven’t written for quite a long time. That’s because Bug has been hogging the computer to play Skylanders. (I don’t even know what Skylanders are so don’t ask me).I went away on a school trip to Belchamps, the most amazing scout camp in the world a few weeks ago. I bet you want to find out some more about it now. What? You don’t? Well I’m sorry but you have to. When I went on my school trip to Belchamps I was …

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Easy Family Food: Versatile Pizza Tart recipe

Easy family food - versatile 'pizza' tart for the whole family

When the Bug and I get home from school, chaos often sets in. Both of us have various places we need to be, and everyone needs to be fed. Pizza tart is one of our quick and easy staples. Simple to prepare, just chuck on any ingredients you have in the fridge and bake. It’s good hot or cold, and stands up well to being reheated for later if you’re the kind of family that sometimes needs to eat in shifts! In this version we decided to get a bit more exciting with our ingredients, and used OXO’s new Shake …

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Expressions #08: my football fan

Six months ago he wasn’t happy about football. Year 2 boys suddenly seem to ‘get’ football, picking teams and chasing the ball on a concrete playground, until injuries and arguments see the game banned. Not for long though. Year 2 boys will always find a way. Not so the Bug, who didn’t see the point. Nor could he fathom why his best friends were consumed with the need to play, every breaktime, at the expense of time spent with him. He felt discarded, lonely, on the outside of a game he didn’t understand, or have any inclination to join in …

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Asthma – the cold fear inside

I lay next to her as she slept in my bed, and listened to her breathing. The rash was up again; her beautiful face was covered in puffy, red patches, that were spreading down her neck and shoulders as I watched under the torchlight. It hadn’t been there at bedtime, and yet when I checked on her at 11pm she was covered. I had dragged her from sleep to administer anti-histamine, brought her to my bed so I would know if she worsened. She has asthma, you see, my baby girl. What if this sudden – and very dramatic – …

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A new family adventure has begun…

Earlier this year we went skiing for the first time as a family. Each of us had different expectations of our trip, but none of us knew how it would pan out. You see, although all of us had experienced skiing before, this time was going to be different; this time we were a family of four. From my ‘headlong into the thrills’ approach, to Mummy’s nervous ‘will I have to carry 3 pairs of skis and a wailing child’ trepidation, we ran the gauntlet of ‘what-if’s’ for weeks before our arrival on the slopes. Would Daddy be frustrated with …

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Expressions portrait photo #07: Freeze movement

My stubborn boy. He is typical of his age: not given to narcissism for the sake of the camera; he will make a fabulous photo-bomber when he’s old enough to be strategic about his ludicrous facial expressions and goofy grins. But give him a project and he will apply himself. “I want to try and make fairies. Will you help me?” And so he stood, in a shady corner of the garden, blowing dandelion clocks. Imagination held hostage for a few moments as he checked the camera to see if we had caught them. My patient boy. To freeze movement and capture so …

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Expressions portrait photos #06: My brother is annoying…

Siblings bicker, but then, just occasionally, there are moments of harmony

My brother is annoying. He is 6. I’m told that all 6 year olds irritate their siblings, but as far as I can remember, The Bug has been annoying since birth. My Mum would have it that he’s cute, given as he is to bear hug cuddling; she claims he is sensitive, referencing his tendency to literally drag her to me if I suffer an injury; and she is convinced he is kind, citing his inclination to share his teddies if one of us is feeling down. But I know him better than anyone. Hello?! How do you think he …

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Grown Up Tuna Pasta Bake Recipe that Kids will Love

How to feed the whole family with just one recipe All hell is breaking loose. You abandoned any attempt at creative play hours ago and the bickering upstairs would indicate that a full-scale atrocity is underway. Homework litters the kitchen table and a million Hama beads are skating under the fridge. To make matters worse, it is 5 o’clock and the freezer is offering you nothing but a bald fish finger and some chewy-looking ice-cream. Plus it was Friday food at school today, so pizza isn’t an option, and Actually Daddy will be home looking to be fed in half …

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Wot so Funee? Funny quotes from a 6 year old

Do you know what’s funny? As I sit here scheduling this post for Tuesday morning I get a DM from one of my regulars. Did she miss Wot so Funee? or did I not do one? What are you on about Mrs, Wot so Funee? goes out on Tuesdays. That’s tomorrow! Oh. No it’s not. What’s funny is that I’ve spent all day today thinking it’s Monday, and now Wot so Funee? is stupidly late. Sorry. You can all have a good laugh at me, because I totally deserve it.   This week I’ve gathered together a bunch of The …

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Expressions portrait photo #05: Swing

Over the Easter holiday we were at a family wedding. We stayed in the loveliest farm cottage overlooking Dartmoor. There were sheep. I have an odd talent for making animal noises (I know, not particularly useful). It rained a lot! So we were reduced to driving along the lane, baa-ing at the sheep, and trying to figure out what they might be saying in reply. GG insisted that my baas were declaring the deliciousness that is a Sunday leg of lamb. The sheep, unsurprisingly, were angry in their tone, or so she says. Fortunately, there was also a swing set …

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Brilliance in Blogging: How did it come to this?

11.56 Wednesday 30 April.  Just now, this happened: Post by Helen Wills. I have been lucky enough to win two great blogging awards in the three years since I first converted key taps to the stories of my children. I am stunned every time, and humbled by the communal thumbs up from the blogging community. But never more than today. Not one, but two categories. Best Writer: When I began to write, it was on this blog. I had never written before. I was no budding journalist, or wannabe romance scriber. From the minute I began, I dreamed I might one …

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